These shots were made this summer, on the route of the regional significance that passes between the cities Syktyvkar, Ukhta and Pechora. It’s hard to say much about the condition of the rest of the road, but this especial part the passing by drivers call “the lacet”. And looking at these pictures it is getting clear, that there is nothing strange in such a name, taking into account, that it isn’t off-road driving. Of course there are a lot of paved roads too in Russia, and some are being severely reconstructed in order to improve the road system, but it’s a great pity that such roads still exist.

You know what? You may be right, can you imagine what would have happened in WWII if Russia had nice paved roads for the German panzers to run on? It’s called general mud. It glued German tanks and trucks in place, sometimes they had to abandon them. Looks like a pretty good strategic defence to me.

Perhaps the G8 countries should get together and finance and build a two lane paved all weather road all the way to Anadyr.
This kind of infrastructure would create jobs and help bolster Russia’s economy. Something similar to the Trans-Canada Highway.

I also remember reading an article in the Popular Mechanics or Popular Science Magazine about a bridge along the Bering Strait from Alaska to Chutkotka through the Diomede Islands. This was of course 15 years ago. I don’t think I’ll see this in my lifetime.

Where else could you see all the wonderful things that capitalist industry was going to provide? Everyone would drive helicopters instesd of cars. We would all live in glass houses and push buttons instead of work. Maybe a Bering Strait Bridge would be impractical, but there are worse things to dream about. Now pass the whale blubber please.

Wow cynical, this comment is heavy. Heavy like depleted uranium… Hmm…now a question; How is it that greed doubled(doubled now)the human lifespan in the last century(foot notes appreciated)? Next; These days no one admits to being a Repubilican, not even texas1. But surely you mean that you would not “want to be seen around those” fascists (you know the correct spelling and the difference). The Russians are getting bored with all this so I will leave Ron Paul for another day. By the way, how’s your Jimmy running?

You have confused greed with profit. But neither of these terms can define the ascent of human civilization. To do so denies everything that makes us human. Unfortunately this line of thought has been unashamedly elevated to the status of a religion in the U.S. in the last 25 years.

There is a difference between Democratic and Republican parties. Democratic leadership tends to require corporate interests to hold for the common good to at least some degree. The Republican party has held for corporate interests at the expense of the common good.

Profit is to come out with more than you started with. Profit does not neccessarily depend on greed. Greed is to take more than you need or are entitled to often at the expense of others. Greed is considered a vice in all human cultures. Reasonable profit is a result of enterprise and is acceptable in most cultures if not overtaken by greed.
I am sure you won’t agree with any of this but here are things that are not based on profit or greed (therefore socialistic)and have been benefitial to millions of people including you, i.e. the common good.
Labor Unions,
Eight hour workday,
40 hour workweek,
Premium pay for overtime.
Social Security,
Health care,
Equality,
Unemployment insurance,
Postal system,
Interstate highways etc…
Some of the above helped prevent the collapse of capitalism 75 years ago.

Some of these things are part of the “social contract” that was agreed upon by the people of this country and enacted into law by the government. The reason it came into being was due to the fact that many people worked 70+ hours a week for poverty wages and never enjoyed the benefits of their labor. These laws gave some measure of balance between unrestricted capitalism and the basic social needs of the population. These things are in fact what made the U.S. great. The benefit to the capitalists was that the expanding middle class has driven the economy and provided industrial peace. The goal of the “Reagan Revolution” is to reverse all of this and shift even more wealth to the corporate oligarths. They have succeded in many areas but people are getting wise to the scam.

As for the deaths statistics attributed to either system, Sarah Zaluppa has already adressed this in another post. If I can find it I will provide the link.

My role is the same as any citizen. To be as informed as possible, and participate in the political process. A good example is the recent attempt by the Bush administration to overhaul(abolish) Social Security. I wrote letters to my representatives expressing my opposition to their scheme. Many thousands of people did the same as well as a number of organizations such as AARP. Everyone knew that the numbers predicting the collapse of SS didn’t add up. Nor did the administrations plan to privatize. Their plans just couldn’t be justified. The Bush administration had to back down in the face of overwhelming opposition.
“Social contract” is merely a convenient term that describes a whole range of actions that prevented the country from sliding into anarchy during the 1930’s. Either industry would be nationalised, or the needs of the working class would have to be addressed. We chose a mixture. Programs such as Social Security, the WPA and labor laws provided an orderly way to sort everything out. And as luck would have it, just in time to confront a real menace.
P.S. Henry Ford introduced 8 hour shifts and paid $5.00 a day in an attempt to keep unions out. Some industries were alredy on 8 hours.

cynical, As far as I am concerned there is no glory to be claimed here. There is no Socialist Party of any consequence. There is no Great Socialist Leader. The only socialist in Congress is Bernie Sanders, and few people outside of Vermont have even heard of him. Few of the people who defended Social Security were socialists. Almost were Democrats and Republicans. They understand that the Bill Of Rights and Constitution imply a “social contract” that puts people before profit.

Almost forgot. “How many deaths would be acceptable to pay for universal health care, for example?”. Good framing cynical. But to reframe the question back to you, how many deaths would be acceptable not to have universal heath care?

cynical, I believe you are making some assumptions that make your questions seem absurd. The deaths you are referring to are the results of tyrany rather than an economic or political philosophy. Many countries have socialistic governments and many more have socialistic institutions mixed with a capitalistic economy. These countries have no deaths attributable to the implementation of socialistic institutions or programs. These are peaceful countries that are relatively efficient. Their citizens appear to be reasonably satisfied. So how do you suppose that the implementation of a universal health care plan would result in deaths?

I always get stuck in this mud with toxic wastes truck, When im 50km out of Moscow i hit this mud. I normally travel at 200kmh and hit mud and go as far as possible before get stuck, then I will either make my own road thru the bush or drink vodka for few weeks straight until a wake up in a motel in Vladivostok with nuclear truck parked out front. I duno how I get out of mud but when i wake up sober in motel weeks later I know i did good for delivering toxic waste to schools for science experiments.

American trucks are designed for long-distance, high speed, heavy load transport over stable highways. Russian/CIS trucks (such as Kamaz, KrAZ, Ural, etc.) are practically useless in the US. And when you say “superior engineering” do you mean “superior reverse-engineering”?

From my experience, even in the harshest conditions the best performing trucks, are Tatras from Czech Republic (red and green truck on these pictures). They cope with terrain like no other ones… on a construction site I drove Tatra T815 to places, where I wouldn’t take my Land Rover One Ten.